Willowbrook Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, August 2, 2001

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WEP PARTICIPANTS HONORED LAST WEEK

Two events last week celebrated the Work Experience Program (WEP) participants whose dedication and hard work have helped bring parks up to their current cleanliness rating of 89%.

The twelfth semi-annual WEP Appreciation Day ceremony honored those WEP participants who have done exemplary work for Parks since January of this year. The event, held in the Arsenal Gallery on Thursday, July 26, was organized by Director of WEP Samara (Samba) Epstein and Operations Analyst Sarah (Cria) Coleman. Commissioner Henry J. (StarQuest) Stern addressed the crowd, and presented certificates to the honorees. First Deputy Commissioner Alan (Northside) Moss and Deputy Commissioner Robert (Iceman) Garafola also spoke at the ceremony, and all of the Borough Commissioners were present to recognize the winners.

The next day, Friday July 27, the annual Staten Island WEP Picnic, took place in Willowbrook Park. Staten Island WEP participants and their families gathered with WEP staff to enjoy a picnic lunch and some near-perfect weather, and to celebrate the hard work that they have done in the last year. The picnic had sun, food, music, and even an impromptu softball game. A number of local businesses helped Parks show appreciation for the Staten Island WEP participants by donating prizes, known as ZAP Awards, that were presented to the attendees. The minor league Staten Island Yankees generously provided every WEP participant at the picnic with tickets to an upcoming home game against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Alfonso's Pastry Shoppe on Victory Boulevard donated gift certificates good for two large pastries each, while the Dunkin' Donuts store at 1650 Richmond Avenue supplied dozens of donuts and coupons.

Staten Island PACT/WEP Coordinator Milady (My Lady) Jimenez organized this enjoyable event, with assistance from Anna Bonilla and Jacqueline Jimenez. Staten Island Borough Commissioner Thomas A. (Richmond) Paulo, Chief of Operations Gerry (Outlaw) Lawless, and Deputy Chief of Operations Larry (Inwood) Scoones were all in attendance.

By Jessica (Gamelan) Schwartz

"HEART OF THE PARK" OPENS AT THE CENTRAL PARK DAIRY

When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux conceived of Central Park it was as a work of art. At the heart of Vaux's architectural scheme was Bethesda Terrace, which he hoped would mimic an "open-air reception hall... with the same position of relative importance that a mansion should occupy" in a private estate. The intricately carved terrace, luxurious as a mansion, crafted as a masterpiece, is a focal point in Central Park, and has served to inspire generations of detail-minded artists of whom the Dairy Gallery's latest featured photographer, Sheila Kane, is one.

In the 15 photographs exhibited at the Dairy, Ms. Kane shows the terrace early in the morning and after hours. She shoots its stonework dressed in snow and bathed in summer sunlight. In imaging the terrace around the clock and seasons, Kane gives body to one of the lost details of Vaux's plan; Vaux devised an elaborate program of sculpture to be mounted on the bollards and pedestals of Bethesda Terrace. He planned scenes of day and night and reliefs of animals and vegetation to be sculpted. His vision, never completed, finds complement in Kane's photographs. "Heart of the Park," will remain on exhibit until January.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Thursday, August 4, 1988)

PARKS TO HOST ACCORDION FESTIVAL

The Lone Star State is home not only to five-alarm chili but also to a hot and spicy conjunto style of music. Conjunto, a unique Texas blend of the musical styles of various Southwest immigrant cultures, combines Mexican mariachi melodies with German polkas and two-steps, all played on the accordion. Conjunto is part of a plethora of ethnic accordion music to be featured at New York City's first international Accordion Festival at the Central Park Bandshell on Tuesday, August 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Conjunto maestro Santiago Jimenez Jr., New York performance artist and composer William Schimmel, the 30-piece Duluth Accordionaires, Chinese classicist Fang Yuan and avant-gardist Guy Klucevsek will lead a host of accordion masters in the free, cross-cultural squeezebox celebration at the Bandshell, midpark at 72nd Street.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know."

Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)